Taking time to be thankful

It's Thanksgiving and we have a lot to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving. It's a day of friends, family, football, and food. Lots of food.

In days gone by, we'd fill a plate or two with turkey and all the fixings, plow through it, and settle in for an evening of football and conversation. That still happens, but now there are tablets and smartphones thrown into the mix. As we catch up with Great Aunt Martha, we're also tweeting about how dry the turkey was and posting pictures of the table centerpiece to Facebook.

Since Ars is all about technology, we're using this Thanksgiving as a chance to stop and give thanks for all the ways technology has made our lives richer.

Associate Writer Casey Johnston: Spotify and other somewhat aggressively social music services

I am specifically thankful for music streaming services that feature social network integration. My main listening weapon of choice is Spotify.

Yes, there is a major creep factor here: not only do Facebook and Spotify get their grabby hands on oodles of data about my listening habits, but all my Facebook friends can see my data too, as my two accounts are connected. And there are only limited ways to stop them. But if I blithely accept this reality as "part of my job," or ignore it as "too much effort to get around," the social aspects of these listening services are pretty fun.

I recently went many months without really listening to music because I was sick of everything I had and didn’t want to go to the usual effort to learn about new stuff. But when I signed up for Spotify and found some friends that were also using Spotify, lo and behold, there it was in the right column of the app window: an avalanche of new songs, albums, and artists to listen to, all a click away.

Music recommendations are hard to glean from publications or services, because they don’t know you; they’re also hard to get from friends in the moment when you're hanging out, and then also hard to remember by the time you sit back down at your computer. Spotify’s social feed acts as an ideal recommendation engine, where music is both vetted and virtually served to you in one smooth motion.

Once I caught up on what the kids are listening to these days, I now fancy myself some kind of DJ, performing for the people who are (un)lucky enough to both use Spotify and be my Facebook friend. At worst, it’s quite a lot of Rihanna’s greatest hits and the new One Direction album, but I can blend in with the trendy hipsters and play Mumford and Sons and Crystal Castles when the opportune moment arises.

Social Editor Cesar Torres: E-books

I am thankful to have e-books in my life. I have been devouring books since I was a kid, and in the three years since I have owned a Kindle, I have grown very fond of e-books. I can now carry a library of my books with me anywhere, whether on my laptop, iPhone, tablet, or Kindle. In fact, the transition from paper to digital has only made me more passionate about e-book technology.

I am thankful for being able to live out my bookworm life with convenience, but things are not perfect. E-books still leave a lot to be desired. Though manufacturers like Barnes and Noble and Amazon are rolling out interesting user interface features, the lack of support for a universal format remains one of the biggest obstacles to e-book nirvana. Right now I have to work too hard as a consumer to get all the titles I want into my collection. I can’t lend out most of the titles in my library, and pricing only reflects the battles between major publishers, not what readers actually want. It’s a mediocre marketplace at best.

But don’t get me wrong, I feel positive about the possibility of change and innovation. I am also grateful to fellow readers and authors who have embraced this transition into digital: many of them care about e-books, DRM-free formats, fair pricing, and access to older titles. Books are not read alone; communities read and share books with one other. I am grateful for passionate readers, in meatspace and on the Internet. The book is alive and well in 2012.

Apple Contributor Chris Foresman: Streaming video services

Devices like the Apple TV funnel a number of streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu Plus, to your HDTV.

Jacqui Cheng

This year I'm thankful for video streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video. Such services may not allow every viewer to "cut the cord," but for the most part, I can watch what I want, when I want, wherever I have a reliable network connection. That includes anywhere my carrier's LTE signal reaches, too, via smartphone apps.

There are a number of holdouts—most notably cable channel HBO, which doesn't offer any of its shows via Netflix or the like, though you can buy episodes via iTunes or Amazon Instant Video. And HBO doesn't allow users to subscribe directly to its HBO Go (or related Cinemax Go) streaming services—at least, not here in the States. However, the company is now offering direct digital streaming subscriptions to customers in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Perhaps this time next year I can be thankful that content producers wised up and figured out how to cut out the cable middle man.

Associate Writer Andrew Cunningham: My home office

Your situation may differ based on where you work and what you do, but it has been my experience that low-level IT workers don't regularly get their own offices. I spent many of my years in IT with just a cubicle wall (and sometimes less) in between myself and my co-workers and every once in a while you just want a door to close.

That's just one of the reasons I'm thankful to have been working from home for the last two months, and it's a long list: No commute in New Jersey rush hour traffic. No more tiresome IT-mandated regulations. No more clearing paper jams. Coworkers with whom I share much more in common (and several who are becoming good friends, besides). A job I'm excited to wake up for every morning.

Sure, working from home presents its own challenges. Staying physically and socially active are both things that now require concerted effort on my part, and neither comes very naturally to an introvert well-versed in the joys of the great indoors. Staying on task at work can occasionally be a challenge, as can turning off my work-brain when it's time to relax. These are, however, completely surmountable problems and they're a tiny price to pay for finally having that door on my new home office.

Gaming Editor Kyle Orland: The indie game scene

This year, I'm thankful for the existence of a robust independent game development scene. Don't get me wrong, I love a big budget, AAA blockbuster FPS as much as the next guy (OK, maybe a little less than certain guys). But gaming in general has been enriched immeasurably by the opportunity for a single person or a small team to create a small, personal game that tries something new.

Without the expectation of mass market success, these games don't need to cater to mass market tastes, allowing them to explore unique or unfashionable modes of gameplay and presentation that help add color to the entire industry. I'm also thankful for these creators' ability to distribute these games directly to interested gamers through the magic of digital downloads.

This year, I'm thankful for Super Meat Boy, Spelunky, Journey, Limbo, Sound Shapes, Super Hexagon, Dustforce, Pixeljunk Eden, Retro City Rampage, Super Crate Box, Octodad, VVVVVV, Braid, I Wanna Be the Guy, Pix'n Love Rush, The Room, To The Moon, Mark of the Ninja, and countless other indie games that I don't have time to recall right now.

Senior Reviews Editor Lee Hutchinson: The age of the SSD

After remaining relatively flat for most of 2011 and early 2012, solid state disk prices plummeted in the past several months and adoption of NAND flash-based storage has skyrocketed. Consumer SSD prices have dropped far below the $1 per gigabyte barrier; in fact, with a bit of hunting you can pick up a 512GB SSD for $350 which would have been unheard-of just a year ago.

It's a near-certainty that everyone reading this interacts with solid state storage several times a day whether it's in a smartphone, a desktop, or a laptop. The ubiquity of SSDs has reset our expectations about how fast a computer should work and it's difficult to go back to a mechanical disk drive computer after spending some time with an SSD. Out of every possible component you could add to a computer, nothing will have as great an impact on the computer's performance; SSDs can bring an aging laptop back to life or make a new system boot with blinding quickness.

Even if you don't use an SSD as your main data store, technologies like Intel's Smart Response Technology and Apple's Fusion Drive use SSDs to enhance the speed of mechanical hard disk drives, combining the speed of SSDs with the capaciousness of big mechanical hard disk drives.

If you don't have one yet, odds are you will in your next computer. The venerable hard disk drive will be with us for a while yet, but the age of the SSD is well and truly here, and it's awesome.

Managing Editor Eric Bangeman: Wireless broadband

I remember going on a cruise on the Chicago River about five years ago where Sprint and Motorola demonstrated one of the first WiMAX installations anywhere. Back in 2007, wireless Internet access meant something akin to dial-up speeds, so the 3.2Mbps speeds I saw on the demo laptops were fairly mind-blowing. I ended up purchasing a Sprint WiMAX mobile hotspot a couple of years ago and enjoyed the speeds of up to 6Mbps that it provided. This past summer, I upgraded to a Verizon Jetpack Mobile LTE Hotspot and its still-faster speeds.

One the perks of working for Ars Technica is being able to do your job anywhere there's a broadband connection. With my Jetpack and the widespread availability of LTE, that can be just about anywhere.

I use the Jetpack as a backup when the home Internet goes out as well as when I take my laptop over to the local coffee shop. The Internet often moves slowly at Starbucks and looking around, it's no secret why. There are several laptops, tablets, and smartphones competing for a finite pool of bandwidth. Meanwhile, I'm surfing away at speeds of up to 15Mbps. And when I travel, my fat broadband pipe goes with me if I head somewhere with LTE coverage.

43 Reader Comments

I'm pretty thankful for Ars, actually. I'm following phone reviews a lot because my exhausting 3-year contract is ending in March, and I have no idea what to get. I've learned a lot since I've been following them.

I am thankful for living in a country where I can post my opinion online, and no matter how whacked it is, not have to worry about people coming in the dead of night to take me away because of it. I am also thankful to all the veterans of every generation who fought to keep it that way. Now if we could just get our vets home from Afghanistan.

Well Guys, Do enjoy your thanksgiving. We canucks are gonna have to accept that the Ars Orbitting HQ is gonna be pretty silent in the next few days. @Casey: Thanks for the insight into using Spotify + facebook. I do think it's creepy but I think I'll use it to update my music because my playlists are a bit stale.

I'm thankful for successful crowd sourcing and the momentum it is gaining. It is a method of capitalism that I feel is on the right track. So many people with great ideas and the energy to execute them are able to reach their audiences and work together for a common goal.

I am thankful for Ars Technica, Wired, Zend Framework, The dojo Toolkit and being able to work on a personal project with all these great tools I contribute too and use. I'm thankful to live in a country that will allow me to reap out 51% of any jackpot I may hit if my idea makes it big! and for my son named after a Warcraft character!

All things considered, this is one of the greatest times in history to be alive, if not the greatest. Ars is definitely part and parcel of the splendid era in which we have had the privilege to be alive.

I'd like to thank every writer and everyone who posts levelheaded articles as well as the passionate, opinionated people who post comments and makes this place the most exciting forum of the internet.

Happy Thanksgiving USA dudes! We Brits are still fattening our turkeys for Christmas, but raise a glass of beer with you. I'd like to second the sentiment of the other posters - you guys at Ars write some really nice articles, and it's in my top three sites ever, and daily.

Andrew Cunningham, is that banana on your wall, or are you just happy to see us?

Seriously, I am also thankful to have Ars here, doing such a great job covering so many tech topics. And I guess I'm thankful to be living in the future, though it does have its quirks. For people of my generation and those prior, this era really does have that feel to it; yesteryear's Science Fiction is next week's Ars Technica coverage. It boggles the mind.

I'm thankful for the technology community, that curious blend of journalism with nerdiness that brings people together in comment sections like this one, the sense of comradeship that one develops just hanging around this site and others like it. I'm thankful for the conversation, and the outreach—for the internet as a whole, too. As a younger person, I often take it for granted, but the way it's brought people together is amazing.

I'm thankful for Ars Technica always being there, providing a relatively unbiased look at all things technology. And for those days when activity in the office is slow, Ars Technica fills that need quite well, either with popcorn-popping events like FunnyJunk vs. The Oatmeal or the lengthy reviews of iOS, Android, Macs, and Windows. Nowhere else can I find such a vibrant community of commenters (that aren't comprised of at least half trolls) and excellent journalism.

I'm thankful for being contented. We truly have everything we want. When the paycheck comes in, and there's a little pot in the savings account, we actually have a hard time thinking of any "stuff" to blow it on. We're in good health: our exams, the doc described, as "unremarkable" (his word for healthy). Good spirits. Well fed. Living in our favorite place. Couldn't ask for more.

I'm thankful for a wife who understands that gaming is awesome. Especially when we take on "The Secret World" together or play our own games separately. Right now her game is "Skyrim" and I'm finally tacking "Batman: Arkham Asylum" as the babies can finally sleep through the night and gunshot noises (we don't crank the volume but we currently live in a small apartment).

There's also sharing geeky shows/movies together too. Nothin' says lovin' like cudding up to "The Walking Dead".

I am very thankful that I have found a long awaited job after finishing university. Secondly, on the tech side, I am thankful for open source software and Arstechnica who keeps me in the know. Happy Thanks Giving to all across the pond even though I am from the UK.............

Indeed; I'm thankful to Ars for their fine science reporting, and for continuing to foster in me a sense of wonder in fields beyond my own. It's something I feared I had lost as I've grown older. But each new exoplanet, targeted enzyme, and subtle refinement of the standard model amazes me anew. Keep up the (very) good work!

I'm thankful for living in one of the richest countries in the world, where there is no war and I don't have to be afraid that people will come and pick me up because I said something that the authorities don't agree with. I'm thankful for our very good healthcare and social laws and facilities. I'm thankful for my friends and family who are genuinely concerned when something is wrong with me and try to help me where they can. I'm thankful for my colleagues who really appreciate what I do at work and are nice people too. I have a good life.

I'm thankful for a caring and loving mother, a compassionate psychologist, and Pandora for helping me handle crippling anxiety. As well as countless other little wonderful things that make life livable. <3

VOIP has allowed me to maintain a relationship with my significant other traveling across the world over the last few months. Honestly, my world would be a mess without her to straighten me out.

Despite all of the problems and constant complications associated with VOIP applications like skype, viber, and facetime - they have allowed me to maintain the one thing I am most thankful for this thanksgiving. For that, I am truly thankful.

And on a more honest note, I'm thankful for my family. If you have not reached a point in your life where you've almost lost it all due to self interests, selfishness, and pride, you will ultimately be humbled if you do. For all the self praise, snark, an witty comments, it all pales in comparison to seeing your kids waking every morning and curling up to you as their foggy heads forget the dreams of the night before.